The Greatest Gift of All
by Mirage Meister
Summary: "But I couldn't ask for more because your love is the greatest gift of all" This Christmas, Leaf receives what could arguably be the best present ever. AU. ORS and mentions of other pairings.
1. Christmas Present or Christmas Slave?

**Hey! So I'm aware that there are all these stories I still have yet to update and finish and that it's been forever since I last updated. Unfortunately, I haven't had the time to so much as breathe thanks to school and finals. I'm free for the holidays though, so hopefully I'll be able to update to my other stories (so be on the look out for that).**

**I really wanted to post this, but I wasn't really able to have the time for this until now (literally started writing this morning). There'll probably be some bad grammar/writing in here somewhere, but please don't flame too much (it's Christmas). **

**ANYWAY, Merry Christmas to you all on Fanfiction, and hopefully you guys enjoy this short little Christmas two-shot. I'll be posting the final chapter of this hopefully some time between now and New Year's Eve. Enjoy!**

**Warning: Major OOCness and uneven interactions amongst the characters (aka, there'll be characters just awkwardly standing there); also very bad attempt on the author's part in trying to create funny imagery (...you'll see)**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon. If you think I do, you're sadly mistaken.**

* * *

One of the best things about Christmas is the presents. Now it's debatable about whether giving or receiving is better (Okay, not really. Opening presents is the best by a little). Leaf's favorite aspect of trading gifts is the thought that goes into it. The better the gift- bought or hand-made - the more the giver thought about the receiver.

Which is why Leaf is kinda hurt by the fact that none of her girlfriends have a gift for her when they gather for Christmas Eve at the Oak's residence.

"I'm sorry," Misty apologizes, a guilty expression on her face. "I don't have your gift yet."

The others- Marina, Dawn, May, Daisy- all echo sentiments similar to Misty but promise to get her gift to her soon.

"That's okay," Leaf assures them, trying her best to not seem slightly bothered by it. "Really."

Things are slightly awkward for a few moments, but it dissipates into the cheery Christmas atmosphere after a couple of jokes. The girls begin swapping stories about their significant others (Daisy, Marina, Misty) or hilarious experiences in retrospect.

"Hang on a sec," Daisy says quickly in the small interlude of Marina's turn. The light bluenette pauses reluctantly. "I gotta go get something from the kitchen."

"Actually..." she adds thoughtfully after a brief pause. "Misty, can you come help me?"

"Of course!" the redhead responds with a knowing smile, a coy expression on her face.

The two then get up and proceed to the kitchen, but Leaf can't help but feel as if something else is going on. She dismisses her suspicion in light of Christmas and focuses instead on her best friend regaling the tale of how she and Jimmy first met.

* * *

A brunette and redhead wait side by side, watching the kitchen back door. Leaning disinterestedly against the marble countertop, tThe redhead taps her foot in a slightly anxious manner. Meanwhile her companion only checks her phone every few minutes, occasionally textingonce in awhile.

"He's just taking his sweet time, now isn't he?" Misty grumbles, a little annoyed.

At last, the kitchen door opens, bringing in the cold winter breeze and snow among other things.

Gary raises an eyebrow at the two girls as he pulls off his coat and scarf. His older sister walks over to him and affectionately dusts the snow from his spiky hair.

"What's with the welcoming committee?" He finally questions. "I thought you'd be busy with your Christmas gathering."

"Where were you?" His sister asks instead, putting her hands on her hips. "Don't tell me you were at the lab..."

"It was nice and quiet there," Gary defends himself. "No research aides yammering on about what they're going to do during their holiday break."

"Anyway-" Gary grabs one of the cookies that the girls decorated earlier, causing his sister to frown in disapproval. "-I'll be heading straight upstairs, so you can go back now."

"Oh, I don't think so," Daisy says with an uncharacteristically coy smile. "Not without you joining us."

Gary barely has the time to raise an eyebrow at his sister's odd behavior before belatedly remembering Misty's presence.

"Merry Christmas, Gary," is all he hears before something is pulled over his head.

* * *

Following Marina's (not so) romantic story, Dawn and May rant about Kenny and Drew respectively. Apparently Kenny's taking too long to make a move, and Drew is being an "irritating piece of cabbage" as usual.

"How about you?" Dawn asks after finishing her complaint against her childhood friend. "Any Gary issues?"

"None actually," Leaf answers after a few moments of thought. She's actually really surprised now that she thinks about it. "His ego occasionally flares up again, but he's been pretty good about it. But wait...why are you asking _me?"_

Marina opens her mouth- most likely to tease Leaf about the increasingly romantic nature of Gary and Leaf's relationhip- but is cut off by a buzzing sound emitting from her cellphone.

After a quick glance down at her phone, Marina slyly looks at the remaining girls in the living room of the Oak residence.

"It appears," the light bluenette says, "that Leaf's present is finally here."

Though she doesn't mean to be so trasparently shallow, Leaf straightens at the mention of her Christmas gift. She'd be okay with just one, whatever it is. At this point, she just wants something meaningful from her friends to unwrap.

Daisy and Misty both reenter the living room, escorting a tall, hopping bundle in between them.

Wait, what?

"We're sorry for the delay," Misty apologizes from behind the squirming present.

Daisy stands in front so as to block the gift from Leaf's point of view despite the fact that the brunette has already caught a glimpse of it. Daisy adds, "We'd also like to apologize for the terrible wrapping."

"Let her open her present!" Dawn claps her hands together eagerly. The Sinnoh coordinator in particular is fond of gift-giving and probably feels guilty about Leaf's disappointment from earlier.

"Ta da!" Daisy hops away from Leaf's gift, making a jazz hands motion to coincide with the big reveal.

Her present is life-sized and easily taller than Leaf. The whole wrapping sheet is wrapped around her present in a way that suggests that the actual wrapping process was done both hastily and to inhibit movement. There is a santa hat thrown on top (in the spirit of Christmas) and the sticker tag indicating the receiver and giver is firmly over her gift's lips.

Resisting the urge to laugh the ridiculousness of it all, Leaf puts a hand over her mouth.

Gary is clearly not as amused.

"Hold on," May says with a giggle, making her way to Leaf's gift. She slaps a Christmas bow onto Gary's head, right on top of the santa hat. "_There_ we go. Now your present's ready."

"Gary's my present?" Leaf asks incredulously, biting her lip in the meanwhile to keep from laughing.

"Leaf," Daisy states grandly, "my brother has always thought that he's Arceus's gift to man. And for the next twenty-four hours...he's our gift to _you_."

"He took forever to show up here, so that's why we didn't have your present ready for you," Dawn explains, a bright smile on her face. "But now that he's here, you can have him do whatever _you _want. As your present, he's obligated to make your Christmas wishes come true."

Gary merely looks around the living room, clearly disinterested in what the girls were saying.

Leaf can't help but wonder what exactly is stopping him from leaving. He could easily overpower Misty and the rest of the girls and escape the house. She supposes that his staying is due to his soft spot for his older sister, but how soft can the spot be for him to allow basically a form of slavery?

As if reading Leaf's thoughts, Misty assures, "And don't worry, Leaf. He _will_ do _whatever _you ask him to." At the end of her words she tugs tightly on the ribbon wrapped around Gary's waist and gives Gary a threatening smile.

"So what are you waiting for?" Marina cries enthusiastically. "Unwrap your gift and put it to use!"

The first thing that Leaf does with her Christmas present is pull off the sticker tag.

"Well Merry _freaking _Christmas to me." Gary scowls.

* * *

**So in case you somehow didn't get it, the girls gave Gary to Leaf for Christmas. I thought it'd be pretty interesting, though the idea kinda came to me last minute. Originally, I was going to post a one-shot with Daisy going overboard with mistletoe and Leaf and Gary avoiding each other in order to stall the imminent kiss between them. (If anyone wants to write this or is inspired by this, by all means, go ahead).**

**Anyway, if you guys have any ideas or suggestions as to what Leaf should do with Gary for the twenty-four hour Christmas period, feel free to PM me or leave it in a review. My goal is to make my A/N's a tad bit shorter than usual, so I won't even leave you guys the guided questions like I usually do.**

**Merry Christmas/Happy Holidays!**

**Please give me your comments, opinions, and suggestions!**


	2. Everything Has Changed

**Wow...so, it's been a long time since I've updated to this story (or in general). I'm actually crying/dying because I had intended to be finished with this before 2015/ early January of this year. Whoops. I've honestly been so busy this year, and it really flew by me (hopefully things will calm down though since I think I've gotten through the rougher part of this school year)**

**Anyway, to those of you who are reading, thanks so much. Hopefully you'll still stick with this story. I'm hoping to submit more chapters now that I'm willing to cut myself off after certain scenes.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon.**

* * *

After much deliberation, Leaf finally decides on what she'll have Gary do for the remainder of Christmas Eve. She had considered making him do embarrassing things (out of pure instinct), but then she recalled she's on good terms with Gary now and that it's best not to push it.

"First rule," Leaf states as she and Gary enter through her front door. Their hands are linked, but only because it's freezing cold outside and gloves only keep so much body heat. "no snide remarks. For the next twenty-four hours, my derps are criticism-free."

Gary grumbles but reluctantly gives her a 'fine.' He waits for her to continue, but Leaf doesn't.

"What else?" Gary presses.

"Don't worry, Gare-bear." Leaf winks at him as she pats his cold cheek with her gloved hand. "I'll come up with more as I go along."

She then shuffles over to the thermostat in order to bump up the temperature. There, waiting for her, is a bright neon sticky note left by her mother. Apparently she had left a couple of hours ago to visit an old friend in Viridian, which is a good five hours away.

Gary, who had been reading over her shoulder out of sheer boredom, remarks, "Your mom won't be home until tomorrow because of the snow."

"I know that!" Leaf snaps, a tad bit worried. Hopefully her mom made it to Viridian safely and was still there. If she was caught out on the road, it could be dangerous. As it was, Leaf had only walked from the Oak's house to hers, and the weather was terrible in the brief five minute walk.

She bites her lips nervously as she realizes that her mother's absence leaves her and Gary all alone in her house...

_Great._

"Rule number two!" Leaf spins around to face Gary and almost falters at his close proximity. "No funny business!"

At this, Gary gives her a small, sly grin. "Alright. I'm not the one who'd climb into my childhood friend's bed."

"No snide remarks!" The brunette flushes in response as she wags a finger disapprovingly in his face. "And I was eight! And desperately in need of warmth!"

"It's okay, Leafy. I know how hot I am."

She snorts. "You hogged up all of the blankets!"

"Excuses, excuses." Gary grins, evidently taking pleasure in teasing her as usual. He steps even _closer_ to her, and Leaf swears that his pearly whites gleamed almost like it was just for her.

For a second, Leaf is at a loss for what to do. She could walk away, of course, but then it would be clearly obvious to him how much of an effect he has on her.

"Presents," Leaf announces, slapping the nearest adhesive- a pink sticky note with last week's grocery list- onto his mouth. "should not be giving sass to their owners."

* * *

"_Psst, _Gary."

Groggily, Gary opens his eyes, squinting in the dark to look for the source of the noise. It's a little past midnight. There's no one at the bedroom door, so he merely shuts his eyes once more and shifts to his side.

"_Gaaarryyyy."_

Something pokes his shoulder.

Instinctively, Gary grabs the offender, pulling them onto the bed with him. The person groans, falling atop him. At the extra body weight, Gary finally opens his eyes fully.

_Oh._

Practically straddling him in her pajamas is none other than Leaf Green.

He's having one of _those_ dreams again, isn't he?

He allows a smile to take over his face, tugging on her hideous and childish Christmas sweater. His voice is unintentionally husky upon being woken. "What's with the pajamas, babe?"

Leaf stiffens. "W-wha…?"

Nonetheless, Gary takes charge of his dream, pulling her down further onto him so that her nose rubs against his.

"You're so beautiful," he breathes, his viridian eyes watching as her eyes widen.

"Um…Gary," Leaf begins, a thrill racing up her spine at the close proximity. They're practically breathing on one another.

Gary effectively quiets her by placing an affectionate kiss on her temple. While her brain is fried, he rolls her off to his side and tucks the thick blanket over her.

"Not now, babe," Gary yawns, throwing his arm around her waist and spooning her from behind. "Later…"

Leaf squirms for a few moments before realizing that she's better off _not_ doing that. And even though he's now fallen back asleep, Gary's grip around her is firm.

The brunette sighs before settling more comfortably against the pillow. "Merry Christmas, Gary."

* * *

When Gary opens his eyes again a couple of hours later, he realizes a couple of things:

1\. Leaf is entangled in his arms like she's a part of him.

2\. She smells like peppermint and is so incredibly soft and warm.

3\. HOLY ARCEUS, THAT WAS NOT A DREAM

His heart hammers at a pace too fast to be anywhere near normal, and his adam's apple bounces up and down nervously.

It certainly doesn't help that Leaf is starting to stir from her sleep; as she moves slightly, she's pressing herself further into his chest. Her nose, tucked into the curve of his neck, rubs against his bare skin.

"…erry Chr..m..s…ry" Leaf murmurs.

Right. He forgot that she sometimes sleep talks.

She's so close to him, and the feeling of her in his arms is nice, but…

He kind of didn't want to be neutered when she wakes up.

Attempting to extricate himself from Leaf's grasp without waking her up turns out to be a very difficult task. Somewhere in the night, a sleeping Leaf had turned Gary into her own body pillow, and she simply refuses to let go of him and quit nuzzling her face against his chest.

"H-hey."

"Leaf, cut it out."

"Leaf, there's no way you're still sleeping."

"G-goddammit, Leaf."

She'd be embarrassed about it later, but, when Leaf opens her eyes fifteen minutes later, it's because she's gone almost too far.

"OH MY MEW!" Leaf squeals in shock at the sight greeting her sleepy eyes.

Who knew that Gary really did have the body to back up his arrogance? If she had those abs, she'd be a tad over-confident too.

_But wait… why is she looking at his bare abs?! Better yet, why is her face pressed against his chest?!_

"Gary!" Leaf shrieks, shooting herself as far away from him as she can. Now that she's no longer so close to him, she can see his face.

And he's the most flustered that she's _ever _seen him. His face is flushed, and he's anxiously running his fingers through his spiky brown hair.

Even though he's embarrassed and she's technically at fault too, Leaf grabs pillow closest to her and hurls it at his face.

He falls to the floor with a _'thump'_, and Leaf feels guilty before the embarrassment returns.

"I said no funny business." Leaf grips another pillow tightly, slightly burying her face into it so she can avoid looking at him.

"I'm not the one who came into the other's room at around midnight while they were asleep," Gary grunts, pulling himself off of the floor and sitting on the edge of the bed. He watches her cautiously.

"Yeah, well!" Leaf pauses for a second before remembering the mini-heart attack she had when he had pulled her on top of him. "I wasn't the one who pulled the other into bed when they were just trying to wish them a Merry Christmas!"

"I wasn't the one who just groped my Christmas present," Gary shoots back, finally pulling his green t-shirt down over his abs for emphasis.

"I-I was _not_ groping you!" Leaf's voice cracks as she protests. "I just…I don't know! I was asleep, okay?"

She doesn't exactly remember what kind of dream she was having that made her pull Gary's shirt up before tracing the lines on his abdomen with the palm of her hands, but, regardless, it was not an intentional action!

Leaf suddenly straightens, lifting up the pillow in her arms menacingly. "Hey, wait! How do I know you didn't grope me when I was asleep?!"

Gary coughs, the tips of his ears turning pink. "We don't know what happened while we were both asleep. Most likely nothing since I'm not as weird of a sleeper as you."

Reluctantly, Leaf accepts his answer. As always, Gary was being logical. It was embarrassing to think that she had rubbed her face into his bare abdomen, but it'd only be a huge deal if she made it into one.

"Merry Christmas, Gary." Leaf manages to say before embarrassedly dashing out of the room.

* * *

**There's honestly not a lot to say, though, once more, I have come up with the bulk of this chapter all in one go. The poor document sat mostly blank on my computer for almost a year. (Curse you writer's block!) Hopefully it's all down hill from here.**

**I'm not really going to say much about the story since I feel that it speaks for itself. But, if you want to discuss it with me, feel free to hit me up with a PM! I promise that I don't bite.**

**Please give me your comments, opinions, and suggestions!**


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